Show arabs hold date palms dearer than wives sp would sell her rather than twig of tree lt it took this country ten years year S to discover something was wrong with its 1890 purchase of baby palms says popular mechanics the trees grew at the prodigious rate of two feet a year but mostly they were barren and fruit of the producers was Is inferior dr david fairchild fairchil d wen went to the sahara as americas troubleshooter trouble shooter ile he sent home the first shipments of fertile offshoot off shoots S in 1901 I 1 but had to obtain abt ain the intervention bention of if the th e british governor general of egypt before he could buy ven even one date sprig an arab may sell his wife or one of f thern them his camel or his donkey but try to buy an offshoot from a choice palm and he reaches for his trusty scimitar nor will he dispose of his best fruit unless there is a surplus over family needs his H ls garden is protected by a high stone wall vi tation and admittance is only by invitation dr fairchild returned with thusia husia it enthusiastic reports of 0 f a rare date he found in bazaars long along the nile N 11 e it was called c aed the wahl and he traveled ele d thousands of illes rilles r trying to trace its source and of its buy some agents progeny other government govern me nt also attempted to trail the he t without success until dr silas C mason was sent to egypt in 1913 with instructions to bring home a w a h i date child and bring her home aliv alive e he sent bundles of thousands A sheik told hirr him the secret we of the oasis cau call it saidi or saideh he said but when these bedouin traders get over to the valley with it they call it the wahl A date is a date from an oasis nasis any date from any oasis |